Austria's national ice hockey team 0: 4 against the Czech Republic without a chance!

Austria's national ice hockey team 0: 4 against the Czech Republic without a chance!

Znojmo, Tschechien - Austria's national ice hockey team has clearly lost its first friendly for the upcoming World Cup against the Czech Republic with 0: 4. The game took place on Thursday in Znojmo in front of 3,900 spectators. The third -party results illustrate the superiority of the hosts: 0: 1, 0: 1, 0: 2. After this clear defeat, the second leg will be in Linz on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., which will be transferred live to ORF Sport+. As part of this game, Brian Lebler, who ended his career in the national team in 2022, could celebrate a comeback. The Black Wings striker had scored 38 goals in 87 international matches and already trained with the team.

The defeat, which means a steamed start for the Austrian team, came about through an unfortunate action. In the 19th minute the Puck Ramon Schnetzer jumped to the heel, which gave Jiri Cernoch the opportunity to score the first goal for the Czech Republic. Just a few minutes later, in the 27th minute, Filip Pricryl increased to 2-0 after a mistake by Nico Brunner. Although Austria had some chances in the final third, the Czech Republic made the victory perfect with other goals by Daniel Kurovsky (57th minute) and Kristian Reichel (59th minute).

personnel changes and review

In the first test phase, some team players from Salzburg and KAC are missing, but they will join the squad next week. Brian Lebler could therefore play a crucial role in the team. In the last season of the league he was top scorer with 33 goals and could bring a breath of fresh air to the team.

A look at the achievements of Austrian ice hockey last year shows some remarkable success. So the U18 team at the World Cup Division IA took fourth place in Egna, Italy. The U18 men's team also won bronze at the World Cup Division IA in Frederikshavn in April 2024. In the same year, the national team impressed with a record pick -up at the World Cup in Prague when they opened a gap of Canada 1: 6 and finally went into extra time. Furthermore, Austria secured the relegation through a 4: 1 victory over Norway and took 10th place.

reinforcement in women's ice hockey

Austria's ice hockey landscape also experiences significant developments in women's ice hockey. The newly founded Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) ensures a fresh wind. Theresa Schaf number scored the first goal for Boston on January 3, 2024, and Anna Meixner, who was drafted on position 32 of Ottawa on June 11, 2023, scored her first goal on December 19, 2023. Another step to promote women's ice hockey is the founding of Win2day Austrian Women’s Hockey League, which is supposed to grow in the long term, Partnership with ORF for the transfer of national team games.

Overall, it can be seen that the Austrian ice hockey association under the presidency of Dr. Klaus Hartmann, who was re-elected on June 22, 2024 for another four years, has strived to bring both the men's and women's teams to a higher level. The youth work is also promoted accordingly, which is reflected in the last results.